Anybody gone completely digital?

HazMatt24 · 02-17-2010, 12:08 AM

as in no cd drive on their decks? I've contemplated it, I mean you can plug in an ipod or hard drive and have way more music than on a cd, but there is something comforting about having that slot.

for you that don't know what I mean, here is a deck I'm contemplating:

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ixa-w407

It already has bluetooth, which I like. I don't necessarily need nav, but you can add it on later.

Thoughts?

colonel6632 · 02-17-2010, 12:09 AM

i like having the cd in my car as a backup if my ipod is not in my car. i live where there is little radio. so the cd is always in my car.

just my opinion. if it's double din, i dont see why not getting a cd player aswell

AbHeLlRaZoR · 02-17-2010, 12:14 AM

Digital is cool, but I wouldn't rely entirely on it.

heineck · 02-17-2010, 12:21 AM

no way, wat if ur zune (or gaypod) dies on ya. then u got nuthin to listen to

tsmitty025 · 02-17-2010, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heineck

no way, wat if ur zune (or gaypod) dies on ya. then u got nuthin to listen to

It's not very hard to wire in a charger... I have a Zune

and you would still have radio.

HazMatt24 · 02-17-2010, 01:14 AM

well with an Ipod it charges while it's plugged in. You can also add a dvd changer if you have to have a physical drive

Weazel · 02-17-2010, 02:20 AM

With steering wheel controls or a big easy touch screen, I'd love to do it. What is there really for affordable aftermarket HDD car audio stations?

cherrington17 · 02-17-2010, 08:46 AM

i have a cd... never use it. actually... i haven't used a cd in... probably 4 years.

ipod ftw. (charges while playing)

and as for haz's question... if it dies, or locks up. i just pull it out at a stop light and hard reset it. (that sounds absolutely horrible, but i assure you, i'm talking about the ipod)

HazMatt24 · 02-17-2010, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherrington17

i just pull it out at a stop light and hard reset it.

hey as long as the tint is dark, do what you want in your own car

I have used cds a lot lately, but they've all been mp3's so converting to a hard drive based system seems pretty natural to me. I've seen a lot of head units lately that don't have a physical drive, so I was just curious if anybody had gone this route and had any regrets doing it. I'd assume eventually cd players will go the way of the 8 track and tape deck.

Vella's Alero · 02-17-2010, 09:37 AM

so does this have a hard drive in it that you can put music on or just ipod hookups? Sorry i would look it up but im on my phone.

HazMatt24 · 02-17-2010, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vella's Alero

so does this have a hard drive in it that you can put music on or just ipod hookups? Sorry i would look it up but im on my phone.

no hard drive, just USB input, input for external dvd/cd changer, nav connection and a tuner. You can get a portable USB hard drive with like 320GB for around $50 so that plus this head unit wouldn't be too bad.

JLw7123 · 02-17-2010, 02:40 PM

I am thinking of it when I get my new system put in.

HazMatt24 · 02-17-2010, 02:53 PM

If I wasn't buying new tires this weekend I'd definitely be considering going this route a little more

Silentalero · 02-17-2010, 02:57 PM

Yea i did,

i had my pioneer z2 and used either the 20gb hd built in, or always had my ipod connected. Never got old and its nice not shuffling through cds

HazMatt24 · 02-17-2010, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silentalero

Yea i did,

i had my pioneer z2 and used either the 20gb hd built in, or always had my ipod connected. Never got old and its nice not shuffling through cds

yeah, but even that still had a dvd drive right? So you could have played cds as a backup if need be

Silentalero · 02-17-2010, 03:49 PM

yea if need be but I never did. The hd would record from a cd so i just recorded my cd's to my harddrive and played them off there

HazMatt24 · 02-17-2010, 04:43 PM

have you hooked up an external HD via USB,? And how were the load times? I know with the Ipod connection to my current deck (Alpine) there is about a half second lag with the controls.

I've also heard that with using an external drive or thumb drive the files have to be organized a certain way, any truth to that?

widbyj · 02-18-2010, 01:08 AM

Organizing the files by Album (at the least) makes good sense. Alpine is one of the best in terms of working with external drives... anything my friends have shoved in gets found. Never tried a USB HD yet, will do and let you know....

Silentalero · 02-18-2010, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HazMatt24

have you hooked up an external HD via USB,? And how were the load times? I know with the Ipod connection to my current deck (Alpine) there is about a half second lag with the controls.

I've also heard that with using an external drive or thumb drive the files have to be organized a certain way, any truth to that?

Nah, its all internal. I never had load times, the hd read fast and the ipod was ok. The new line of pioneer is a lot faster for ipod

Ryan from Ohio · 02-18-2010, 07:07 AM

I just found out that my JVC deck will not only play songs off flash drives, but I can control ipods/generic USB MP3 players as well as charge them. it will also control the device...

Pretty nice.

I just snagged a 20 GB external HDD off www.onesaleaday.com

$25 shipped. Nice and thin.